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Episode details

World Service,20 Sep 2026,49 mins

Houthi militants target Saudi capital

Weekend

Available for 29 days

Houthi militants in Yemen say they carried out drone and ballistic missile attacks on the Saudi capital Riyadh, as well as energy sites on the country's Red Sea coast. The Iran-backed group has this month made a series of rapid advances along the Yemeni coastline near the Bab al-Mandeb strait - a major corridor for Saudi Arabia's oil exports. We get the latest from Riyadh. Also on the programme: the singer Ed Sheeran apologises for the free speech row over pro-Palestine comments; and we hear the arguments for AI companies relinquishing some of their power. Presenter Julian Worricker discusses these stories and more with panellists Luke Harding, British author and The Guardian's senior international correspondent, and Sasha Dovzhyk, Ukrainian author and founder of Index, a research organisation documenting people's experiences of war in Ukraine. (Photo: Large plume of black smoke rises from the fuel storage area at King Khalid International Airport, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, September 19, 2026. Credit: REUTERS/Stringer)

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